Combined grinding and drying apparatus.



3 SHEETB-BHEET 1.

S\Z/ 15W PATENTED JAN. 31, 1905.

Samar. 5

I J. A. MORRELL. COMBINED GRINDING AND DRYING APPARATUS.

APPLIOATION FILED MAR. 31. 1904 lawlgr V N0; 731,445. V PATENTED JAN. 31; 1905.

I 1 1 c J. A. MORRELL.

"COMBINED GRINDING AND DRYING APPARATUS. j I APPLICATION FILED MAR, 31. 1904. v

' .a sums-sum a. I a /6 V UNITED STATES-- Patented. January 31, 1905.

{PAT NT OFFICE.

JAMES MORRELL, oEPoLANn'NEwYoE ASLSIGNOR OF TWO- THIRDS TO WALLACE BUTLER AND EUGENE J. KIRBY, OF

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

V v I COMBINED GRINDING AND DRYING APPARATUS;

SPEQIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 781,445, dated January 31, 1905. i

Application filed March 31, 1904. Serial No. 200,940

' Combined Grinding and Drying Apparatus,

of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates particularly to apparatus for drying and grinding peat and similar pulpy substances,

The main objects of my invention are to provide a device adapted to dry and grind a moist material such as peatby a single continuous operation, to provide improved means for heating air and forcing same through the mass of a quantity of material during the process of grinding same, and to provide asuitable construction and arrangement of parts whereby the material whlch 1s being ground 1S ag1-' tated in suitable mannento permit'a current of heated air to .be passed through the mass of the same and whereby the material is caused to flow continuously through the grinding apparatus and in a direction opposite to the flow of air. I accomplishi these objects by the device shown in the accompanying drawings, in whichp Figure 1 is a vertical section of a device constructed according to my invention and adapted for simultaneously grinding and drying peat. Fig. 2 is an elevation of "one of the sets of grinding-teeth on the outer grinding member. Fig. 3 is an elevation of one of the sets of teeth on the inner grinding member. Fig.

4 is a top plan of the device shown in Fig. '1. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the same.

In the construction shown an inner hollow conical gr inding'memb'er 2 is rigidly secured tothe supporting-platform 3 and is provided" inner surface with a plurality of sets of grinding-teeth 6. The teeth 6 are set at an angle.

with the axis of the cylinder and are adapted to coact with the teeth 4 in suitable manner to shear the material between the grinding members and 'at the same time urge such material in a downward direction, Theweight of the outer member 5 is carried by rollerbearings 7. by meansof a pinion 8, which meshes with an annular gear 9, which is rigid on the member 5. A plurality of rollers bearing on the sides of the member 5 resist the lateral thrust of the driving-gears. The bearings forthe gear 8 and for the rollers 10 are omitted from the drawings for the sake of simplicity.

The walls of the conical member 2 are pro- The outer member 5 is rotated the pipe 12, but is not shown in the drawings.

The upper end of the member 2 is closed by a conical cap 18, so thatthe air can only escape from the interior of the member 2 through the perforations ll. The interior of the member 2 is of considerably greater capacity than thecombined areas of the perforations 11 in order to delay the air to some extent in its passage through said member. The air within the member 2 is heated to a high degree by means of the steam-coils 14, which connect with a boiler. (Not shown in the drawings.)

- separated by a lining 15 of asbestos or other non-conducting material. Suitable arms 16 connect the upper end of the member 5 with a pivot 17, journaled in the upper end of the member 2. Material is supplied at the upper end of the member 5 and is discharged through suitable apertures 18 in the platform 3 at the lower end of the member 5. An annular wall 19 directs the material discharged fromthe, lower end of the member 5 toward the aper tures 18 and prevents such material from spreading out upon the platform 3;

The operation of the device shown is as follows: Assume that the outer member 5 is continuously rotating in the direction of the arrow 20 in Fig. A and that pulpy material, such as moist peat, is being fed continuously into the upper open end of the member 5. The large lumps are broken into smaller fragments by means of the large teeth 6 and 4: at the upper parts of the grinding members. These particles descend through the action of gravity, assisted by the downward pressure exerted by the inclined teeth 6 on the outer member 5, and are successively acted upon and broken up into smaller particles during their descent toward the fine teeth at the lower ends of the grinding members. During this operation the heated air within the member 2 is forced outwardly through the perforations 11 by the pressure exerted by the blower, and thus enters the mass of the material between the grinding members in the form of a large number of fine jets. This hot dry air passes upwardly through the mass of the material, absorbing the moisture from such material and carrying it out at the top. It will be noticed that the opposed rows of teeth 4 and 6,

separated by large spaces, will keep the material in a state of violent agitation during the process of grinding same, and thus permit of the ready flow of the dry heated a r through the mass of such material. The peat is finally delivered into suitable receptacles below the apertures 18 in a dry and finely-divided state, ready to be conveyed directly to the compress ing machinery. The efiect of the inclined teeth 6 is to force the material both downwardly and inwardly toward the heated surface of the member 2.

The efficiency of the drying device depends upon the temperature of the drying-air, and for this reason it is preferred to superheat the steam before its admission to the heatingcoils. With superheated steam a high temperature in the coils may be had with moderate steam-pressure. The superheating device is omitted from the drawings.

The brushes or scrapers 21, secured to the lower edge of the rotatingcylindrical member 5, prevent the accumulation of material on the platform 3 between the apertures 18.

It will be seen that numerous details of the construction shown may be altered without departing from the spirit of my invention.

What 1 claim as my invention, and desire to' secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A combined grinding and drying apparatus, comprising a grinding member having perforated walls; a second grinding member coacting with the first member; an airheater; and means for forcing air from said heater through the perforations in said first member into the space between the members, substantially as described.

2. A combined grinding and drying apparatus, comprising a hollow grinding member having perforated walls; a second grinding member coacting with the hollow member: an air-heater; and means for forcing air from said heater through the perforations in said hollow member and into the space between said members, substantially as described.

3. A combined grinding and drying apparatus, comprising an inner hollow grinding member having perforated walls; an outer grinding member su rrounding said inner member and adapted to coact with the same for grinding material placed between the walls of said members; an air-heater; and means for causing air from said heater to flow outwardly through the perforations of the walls of said inner member and into the mass of the material between said members, substantially as described.

4. A combined grinding and drying apparatus, comprising an inner hollow grinding member having perforated walls; an outer grinding membersurrounding said inner member and adapted to coact with the same for grinding material placed between the walls of said members; an air-heater; and means for causing air from said heater to flow outwardly through the perforations of the walls of said. inner member and into the mass of the material between said members; and an outer non-conducting covering adapted to prevent the loss of heat from said outer member substantially as described.

5. A device of the class described, com prising an inner conical grinding member; an outer member surrounding said conical member and adapted to coact therewith for grinding material placed between said members; an air-heater; and means for causing air from said heater to How through the mass of the material between said members, substantially as described.

6. A device of the class described, comprising an inner conical grinding member; a cylindrical outer member surrounding said conical member and adapted to coact therewith for grinding material placed between said members; an air-heater; and means for causing air from said heater to flow through the mass of the material between said memlwrs, substantially as described.

7. A device of the class described, comprising an inner conical grinding member; a cylindrical outer member surrounding said conical member and adapted to coact therewith for grinding material placed between said members; an air-heater; and means for causing air from said heater to flow through the mass of the material between said members, one of said members having thereon a plurality of inclined shoulders adapted to normally urge the material between said members in a longitudinal direction, substantially as described.

8. A device of the class decribed, comprising an inner conical grinding member; a cylindrical outer member surrounding said conical member and adapted to coact therewith vfor grinding material placed between said members; an air-heater; and means for causing air from said heater to flow through the mass of the material between said members, said outer cylinder having thereon a plurality of inclined shoulders adapted .to normally urge the material to flow in a longitudinal direction between said members, substantially as described.

' 9. In a device of the class described, the combination of a verticallyrdisposed hollow conical grinding member having perforated Walls; a heating-coil secured within said member;- an outer cylindrical member surrounding said conical member and open at the top and bottom; a plurality of-grinding-teeth on said cylindrical member adapted to coact with said conical member for grinding material means for causing a flow of air from the incombination of an inner fixed conical grindng member; an outer cylindricalgrinding member rotatable around said conical member. and adapted to coact with said conical member for grinding material between said members; an air-heater; and means for causing air from said heater to flow through the mass of the material between said members, substantially as described.

Signed at Poland this 25th day of March, 1904:, l

' JAMES A. MORRELL.

Witnesses: I

S. R. BURYTON, F. J. C. STEBER. 

